My sister turned me on to Alabama Chanin. Steeped in Deep South mythology, the company makes pretty, hand-sewn, quilted and beaded clothing and home accessories, primarily made with recycled cotton jersey. There’s something romantic and rustic about the designs, which often feature frayed edges and visible knots.
When I got my hands on a copy of Alabama Stitch Book by company founder and designer Natalie Chanin, I recruited my sister to test out one of the DIY projects in the book. We chose a tea towel to keep things simple and because I thought a pretty tea towel would make drying duty during cottage kitchen cleanup a little more pleasant.
These are the tea towels as shown in the book.
And this is the tea towel my sister made.
Many of the projects in the book can be made using old cotton T-shirts, and involve layering two colours and cutting out a pattern to reveal the second fabric underneath.
My sister felt the technique was a little finicky for a beginner like her, but that sewers with a more experience won’t have any problems with some of the fine work. She would modify this project by adding a backing layer to hide the strip of fabric that fills in the cutout pattern, to make the tea towel double-sided. And that’s the fun of DIY, isn’t it? You always find a way to make each project your own.
PS– Apparently the biscuit recipe in the book is quite good, although of course my sister didn’t see fit to share any of her test baking with me.
